One day Mary and her lamb were playing in the barn. He would lie still as a mouse while she buried him in the hay, but when she clapped her hands he jumped up and ran to her like a dog. Then Mary began to pull out hay from the mow, and made a deep hole where they could both creep in out of sight. After supper they played hide-and-seek with Hannah. So many nice hiding-places—under the flower-bushes, behind the rain- barrel, and around the wood by the woodshed. At last Mary remembered her hole in the hay and crept in, with the lamb which followed her everywhere. Then they waited, keeping very still, till by and by Mary grew sleepy—for it was almost bed-time. She laid her head on the lamb's soft neck, as they cuddled down together in their nest, and before they knew it they were fast asleep! Hannah hunted and hunted, till she thought Mary must have gone in the house, to play a trick on her; so she went into her own house a little vexed. Bed-time came and her Mother came to the door to call Mary in. "I guess she's gone home with Hannah," said father, as he came from the barn with his lamp. The girls often slept together, and Mary's mother didn't hear the "I guess," so she only said "It is naughty to go without telling me. She mustn't again." So nobody knew where Mary was, all night! But next morning she didn't come home—she was not at Hannah's—and how frightened everybody was! They hunted everywhere, and at last started to drive to the neighbor's houses. The noise of the carriage and of the horse trampling on the street waked Mary—and how astonished everybody was, when she and the lamb came creeping out of the hay!
How he saved Mary!
